the death of my kotatsu
here i sat sunday night. the kotatsu running and keeping me cozy warm. (remember the kotatsu is a short japanese table with a heating lamp underneath. set it up with blankets and you've got this friendly cocoon of warmth. caution: may cause drowsiness.) then, my feet started cooling off. so i made to turn the kotatsu back on, only to realize that i had never turned it off. i unplugged it and plugged it back it. still won't turn on. unplug and plug back in the other end. still nothing. grab flashlight and manage to squeeze myself underneath to look at the wiring as best i can. can't see a short. should be pretty obvious. can't see anything looking like it probably shouldn't. nothing's melted. insulation looks to be on the wires. turn off, back on. nada. again, cuz i'm hopeful that my best friend isn't really dead. nothing. start cleaning the room, cuz if this thing's gonna need replacement, it's gonna need to be cleared off.
monday after work, i stopped by the BoE to tell my supervisor, "yuube, watashi no kotatsu ga shinimashita." (last night, my kotatsu died. wording it like that is apparently amusing over here.) they said they would go shopping the next day and bring me a new kotatsu. i was so proud of myself! what with having learned enough japanese to be able to communicate these things. my supervisors at the BoE don't speak english.
my tuesday elementary school got a phone call this afternoon. the principal told me that the BoE would be at my apartment at 4 this afternoon. i explained that i had told them that "nichiyoubi no yuube, watashi no kotatsu ga shinimashita." (sunday evening, my kotatsu died. no, i haven't been able to remember the word for break.) teachers and staff in the staff room laughed. (in english, i might say it broke. but it died is more fun, because it's odd. even more fun than it died is it's kaput, but i can't remember japanese for kaput any more than i can for broken.) i left right after classes so i could make it home before my supervisors. i cleared out more things from this room.
my supervisors even helped me put the new kotatsu together! (well, to be completely honest, one did it, and i helped, while the other unwrapped the parts.) then the one disassembled the old kotatsu. the other noticed my kitchen light (which i apparently left on for 19 days solid while i went home for christmas) needs replacement, too. i told her that i would pay for that. (i didn't work out how to explain it's all my fault.) i said the kotatsu's expensive, so i'll pay for the light.
the new kotatsu is super nice! major upgrade. it's a wood color. not sure which wood. it's a medium brown. it's super warm! and it's even on low! two days and an hour or two ago, i had the old kotatsu on high. the new one has these little extensions on the table legs, so i can have it higher (and not struggle to get in and out) or at what i assume would be a normal height (for a short japanese table, anyway). with the taller height, it's high enough that i can see myself sleeping comfortably under it. (i'm in sooooo much trouble! kiss my productivity goodbye!) the heating element is better than your basic heat lamp. this one doesn't release light, and there's a fan in it, blowing that nice warm air right down onto my legs (warming them up immediately, without that cold wait for the space under here to warm up), AND it doesn't extend below the table frame! this seems to be the latest in kotatsu availability. the cord's even navy blue, not red. it's so nice and toasty warm.
ooh. too warm at the moment. gotta turn it off.
the BoE is right on top of broken things that are important. it's still cold = must have kotatsu. when my rice cooker was burning my rice, i told them, and i had a brand new single size rice cooker within days. (single size as opposed to family size.) (both these items are in my contract, so it's the BoE's responsibility to fix or replace them when they don't work. if my broom snaps in half, i either sweep with a half size broom or buy my own new broom.) my neighbor's bike got stolen, but she has a car, so they didn't do anything, even though bicycle is in her contract. it's a loss of convenience for her when she takes the train, but she still has transportation. the bike was found, and they did cut the lock off (cuz the key was stolen with the bike, but not left with it when it was found).
oh, and because i don't want my supervisors to know that i'm messy, i cleaned up. threw the mess into the other room and closed its doors so they couldn't see it. as a result, they think i'm really clean. (insert smug smile)
okay, bed time.
i'll try to sleep on the futon, not under the new kotatsu.
monday after work, i stopped by the BoE to tell my supervisor, "yuube, watashi no kotatsu ga shinimashita." (last night, my kotatsu died. wording it like that is apparently amusing over here.) they said they would go shopping the next day and bring me a new kotatsu. i was so proud of myself! what with having learned enough japanese to be able to communicate these things. my supervisors at the BoE don't speak english.
my tuesday elementary school got a phone call this afternoon. the principal told me that the BoE would be at my apartment at 4 this afternoon. i explained that i had told them that "nichiyoubi no yuube, watashi no kotatsu ga shinimashita." (sunday evening, my kotatsu died. no, i haven't been able to remember the word for break.) teachers and staff in the staff room laughed. (in english, i might say it broke. but it died is more fun, because it's odd. even more fun than it died is it's kaput, but i can't remember japanese for kaput any more than i can for broken.) i left right after classes so i could make it home before my supervisors. i cleared out more things from this room.
my supervisors even helped me put the new kotatsu together! (well, to be completely honest, one did it, and i helped, while the other unwrapped the parts.) then the one disassembled the old kotatsu. the other noticed my kitchen light (which i apparently left on for 19 days solid while i went home for christmas) needs replacement, too. i told her that i would pay for that. (i didn't work out how to explain it's all my fault.) i said the kotatsu's expensive, so i'll pay for the light.
the new kotatsu is super nice! major upgrade. it's a wood color. not sure which wood. it's a medium brown. it's super warm! and it's even on low! two days and an hour or two ago, i had the old kotatsu on high. the new one has these little extensions on the table legs, so i can have it higher (and not struggle to get in and out) or at what i assume would be a normal height (for a short japanese table, anyway). with the taller height, it's high enough that i can see myself sleeping comfortably under it. (i'm in sooooo much trouble! kiss my productivity goodbye!) the heating element is better than your basic heat lamp. this one doesn't release light, and there's a fan in it, blowing that nice warm air right down onto my legs (warming them up immediately, without that cold wait for the space under here to warm up), AND it doesn't extend below the table frame! this seems to be the latest in kotatsu availability. the cord's even navy blue, not red. it's so nice and toasty warm.
ooh. too warm at the moment. gotta turn it off.
the BoE is right on top of broken things that are important. it's still cold = must have kotatsu. when my rice cooker was burning my rice, i told them, and i had a brand new single size rice cooker within days. (single size as opposed to family size.) (both these items are in my contract, so it's the BoE's responsibility to fix or replace them when they don't work. if my broom snaps in half, i either sweep with a half size broom or buy my own new broom.) my neighbor's bike got stolen, but she has a car, so they didn't do anything, even though bicycle is in her contract. it's a loss of convenience for her when she takes the train, but she still has transportation. the bike was found, and they did cut the lock off (cuz the key was stolen with the bike, but not left with it when it was found).
oh, and because i don't want my supervisors to know that i'm messy, i cleaned up. threw the mess into the other room and closed its doors so they couldn't see it. as a result, they think i'm really clean. (insert smug smile)
okay, bed time.
i'll try to sleep on the futon, not under the new kotatsu.